Business
NIMC, Bank Partner On National Identity Project
The National Identity
Management Commission (NIMC), has appointed Heritage Bank as one of the banks with the mandate to partake in the national identity numbers project.
With the appointment, Heritage Bank is enlisted as one of the banks to undertake the identification, registration and issuance of the identity cards to Nigerians.
A statement by Heritage, made available to our correspondent on Wednesday, quoted the Group Head, Coral Banking, Mr. George Oko-Oboh, as promising that the bank would deploy all its processes to ensure an efficient realisation of the goals of the national identity project.
He said, “Heritage Bank promises to be a reliable and proud partner with the National Identity Management Commission on this laudable national project and will deploy its innovative technology and resources in harmonising and integrating all database systems in Nigeria to be able to identify every registerable Nigerian in this country, register and issue them the identity cards.”
The statement also quoted the bank’s Executive Director, Mr. Niyi Adeseun, as describing the NIMC mandate as a significant call to national duty for the bank.
Adeseun said, “Identity management is a critical part of every nation’s progress and we at Heritage Bank will ensure that we support the NIMC goals.
“As with all the other mandates we have, we are committed to ensuring that we not only deliver maximum value but more importantly, revolutionise the concept of service delivery so that the public will enjoy more ease, zero time-wasting and absolute support that our highly technology-driven environment and systems are built around.
Business
Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons
Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.